James Pfrehm

Lecturer, World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
Phone: 607-274-5139
Office: Muller Faculty Center 301, Ithaca, NY 14850
Specialty: German Language and Linguistics

Originally from the Pacific Northwest, I completed an MA in German Literature at the University of Washington in 2001 and a PhD in Germanic Linguistics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2007. My teaching and research interests are intentionally interdisciplinary, ranging from German and European culture, literature and language, to several subfields of linguistics (sociolinguistics, dialectology, linguistic anthropology, internet linguistics). While my professional passions are teaching and language, privately I enjoy tinkering with computers and technology, exercising, home brewing, hiking, fishing the many streams of Upstate NY, writing plays, reading, escorting Frida and Diego (my two [spoiled] dachshunds) on walks, and training in Mixed Martial Arts. 

Recent Publications

Learning German: A Journey through Language and Culture. Thirty-lecture video course with The Great Courses© (2019) -- Available for purchase HERE.

Technolingualism: The Mind and The Machine. Bloomsbury Publishing (2018) -- Available for purchase HERE on Amazon.com

Textures: pour approfondir la communication orale et écrite. Yale University Press (2018) -- Available for purchase HERE on Amazon.com.

Current Projects/Research

Digitalization of the Foreign Language Classroom (for visiting professorship at University of Hildesheim [summer 2020])

Disentangling Disinformation in Social Media: Topics, theories, and practices for educators (for Fulbright Specialist Award to Finland [Jan. 2021])

Courses Taught (German and European Studies)

German 350: Contemporary German-Language Film

German 327: German Conversation and Stylistics

German 309: Introduction to German Literature

German 303: German Civilization in a European Context

German 316: Modern German Drama: Controversial Plays of the 20th Century

Courses Taught (Linguistics)

Linguistics 242: Language and the Mind

Linguistics 243: Language in the World

Linguistics 210: Uncovering English: Sociocultural, Ideological, and Historical Perspectives

Linguistics 275: Introduction to Sociolinguistic Inquiry & Methods

Linguistics 232: Introduction to Linguistics

Anthropology 290: Sociocultural Linguistics

Courses Taught (First-Year Seminars)

Critical Thought and Expression Across the Curriculum

Language: The Unique Human System

Courses Taught (in Honors Program)

Ithaca Cultural Encounters

International Scholarly Conversations

*Click HERE to request my CV, for a complete list of publications, presentations, courses, etc.